Chapter 760 Historical Issues (II)
Now that the steelmaking project is in Zhou Xu's hands, needless to say, it will be restarted.
After agreeing to continue investing manpower and material resources in the "steelmaking" project, Zhou Xu handed the document, which he had signed and made subsequent arrangements, to a personal soldier.
"Inform the relevant departments below to implement the steelmaking project as a key project."
"yes!"
After receiving the reply, the soldier took the document and ran to pass on the message.
At this stage, there are so many things to be arranged every day, and the relevant departments have to confirm the arrangements layer by layer. If important projects are not specifically mentioned, who knows how long they will be delayed? But from the perspective of an entire civilization, this is unavoidable.
He needs enough departments to manage all aspects of the matter, but he has no way of ensuring that every department member can function as efficiently as himself, just like a company boss has no way of completely preventing his employees from slacking off at work.
But being able to completely eliminate it and ignoring it completely are two different things.
As the country grows larger, this problem must be dealt with, otherwise it will only become more serious.
In fact, Zhou Xu had already started to arrange this matter long before.
Things like setting up a hard-working award, compiling performance statistics at the end of the month, and giving bonuses to the top few are relatively gentle methods that encourage everyone to work hard and get more salary.
But on the other hand, for some stubborn elements who are no longer responsive to ordinary "inducements", they must be dealt with.
However, it may take some time for the full effect to be demonstrated.
After a brief distraction, Zhou Xu's attention quickly refocused on the documents in front of him, which were historical issues.
The previous steelmaking project made him start to have some expectations for these documents.
In fact, there are indeed quite a few serious projects here.
He even discovered research and development projects for hot air balloons, catapults and crossbows among these historical issues.
But needless to say, none of them were successful.
After several rounds of research and development, the samples produced looked decent in appearance, but the actual effects were terrible and did not show any practical value at all.
Obviously, compared with their Great Zhou, Yan Sheng’s ordnance department lacked a key talent like Zhuang Mengdie who had decisive ability.
However, even Yan Sheng was obviously aware of the value of these things in the era of cold weapons, so these projects had been continuously developed while Yan Sheng was still alive, or in other words, they were constantly burning money. In the eyes of the officials below, these projects were almost a bottomless pit.
But from Yan Sheng's perspective, there is nothing wrong with this idea itself.
Not to mention hot air balloons, catapults and crossbows can be said to be key weapons in the era of cold weapons. Once successfully developed, they can directly change the form of war, so they are naturally worth developing.
However, Zhou Xu now has the hot air balloon and the three-bow crossbow in his hands. As for the catapult, he has no plans to invest in research and development for the time being.
Perhaps judging from the specific effects displayed, the catapult and the three-bow crossbow are not the same, but their positioning in ancient wars is the same, that is, the cannon in the cold weapon era!
The main target of catapults in war is also the enemy's defensive facilities, and it can also destroy city walls. These things can also be done by the three-bow crossbow, and even better with its higher precision.
The development funds he has are not unlimited, not to mention that the New World is in a state of disrepair and there are many places where money needs to be spent.
For Zhou Xu at this stage, the catapult is really unnecessary. It is better for him to continue upgrading his three-bow crossbow.
In this way, Zhou Xu cut off all three projects with a stroke of the pen.
The military equipment research and development project itself involves multiple departments. After Zhou Xu made the decision, the relevant documents were quickly sent to a series of relevant departments including the administrative department, military and political department, and financial department to go through the process.
Seeing the canceled project, several ministers from relevant departments felt mixed emotions, but they also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thinking back to the time when Yan Sheng allocated funds for these projects, even though they have not produced any results, the money invested in these projects was not less than that.
This also led many officials at the time to reach out to this project.
As for how the money later changed hands and ended up in Zhou Xu's hands, that's another story.
Now, seeing these important money-making projects being cut, the ministers who are aware of the situation are also sighing in their hearts.
But it’s better this way. These projects are too deeply involved. Although they are all matters of the old dynasty, if they are discovered one day, it will definitely have an impact on them.
Now that the project has been cancelled, it can be considered as clearing the hidden dangers for them.
After a few days, as a key project personally named by their Majesty, all applications for restarting the steelmaking project were basically given the green light.
On the first day when the project officially started, Zhou Xu also planned to go and take a look in person to understand the situation so that he could have a better idea of the situation.
Considering his current status, traveling directly on horseback would inevitably bring some trouble to those around him, so Zhou Xu chose to travel in a carriage in a relatively low-key manner.
After leaving the palace, the carriage drove all the way and soon arrived outside the forging department. At this moment, there was already a long line outside the forging department.
The forging department is recruiting.
Because of the need to forge weapons for the new recruits, the forging departments in both the New World and the Old World are now fully booked and have no time to spare.
Under this premise, restarting the steelmaking project will inevitably require corresponding manpower, but since they cannot spare the manpower internally, they can only recruit people.
At this moment, there are still many people who have not found a job. When they heard that we were recruiting people, they naturally rushed over immediately.
"What did you do before? Why did you come to the Forging Department?"
The staff in charge of the interview couldn't help but yawn as they asked the same questions countless times in the past two days.
When asked, the lean young man answered honestly...
"I used to raise pigs in the village, but there was a famine and all the pigs were gone. A few days ago, I heard that there were job openings here, so I thought about whether I could come here to work as a blacksmith."
Hearing this, the staff member looked him up and down.
"How much strength do you have when you are just skin and bones?"
After saying that, he waved his hand, with a hint of impatience in his tone.
"Next, next."
When the young man heard this, he immediately became anxious.
"I have the strength, I have the strength!"
As he spoke, the young man wanted to grab the staff member's hand, hoping that the other party would give him a chance, but he was frightened instead.
"What are you doing?! Are you trying to cause trouble? Guards! Guards!!"
The forging department responsible for forging weapons is considered an important military base, and guards are arranged to guard it all around. Upon hearing the noise here, the guards not far away immediately rushed over, ready to capture the obviously panicked young man.
Just then, a voice sounded...
“Wait!”
Update is here. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be more updates after 10:30 (End of this chapter)
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